U.S. personnel were injured during an attack on the Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq Saturday, and a member of Iraq’s security forces was seriously wounded, according to reports.
The base came under a tactical missile attack, and more than 15 U.S. Patriot missiles were launched to intercept. But some missiles got through, according to Charles Lister, a senior fellow and director of the Middle East Institute Syria Program and the Middle East Institute Countering Terrorism and Extremism Program.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed Iraqi militants, claimed responsibility, Lister wrote.
U.S. personnel were injured during an attack on the Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq, pictured, Saturday, and a member of Iraq’s security forces was seriously wounded, according to reports. (Getty Images)
US MILITARY BASES IN IRAQ, SYRIA ATTACKED AGAIN, BRINGING TOTAL TO AT LEAST 90 SINCE OCT. 17
A defense official told Fox News the missiles were launched from inside Iraq and that two U.S. personnel sustained concussions described by the Pentagon as “traumatic brain force injuries.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the State Department and the White House for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The Al-Asad Airbase in Iraq came under attack Saturday. (Google Maps)
IRAN ANNOUNCES STRIKES IN NORTHERN IRAQ, SYRIA
Since the Israel-Hamas war began in October, the U.S. military has come under attack at least 58 times in Iraq and another 83 times in Syria by Iran-backed militants, usually with a mix of rockets and one-way attack drones, according to Reuters. The militants are seeking to impose a cost on the United States for its support of Israel against Iran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Various militia groups have launched more than 130 attacks on U.S. forces stationed in Iraq and Syria since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. (Fox News)
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The U.S. has 900 troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq on a mission to advise and assist local forces trying to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large parts of both countries before being defeated.
The attack comes after three armed drones were shot down in Iraq Tuesday near where U.S. and other international forces are stationed, officials said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
